The Element of Freedom
by Julia451
Summary: Post-A Leaf in the Wind. Tenzin writes his mother a letter explaining he's finally found the reason why Airbending was at first so impossible for Korra.


Dear Mother,

I'm enclosing a gift in this letter that I'm sure you will enjoy: the right to say, "I told you so" to the other Masters of the Order of the White Lotus. I know how they have all waved aside your repeated warnings for the past twelve years that Korra's seclusion was not good for her. Their plans for her years of training in isolation were rooted solely in concerns for her safety and Bending education, not her happiness, which they assumed was your only objection, that you sympathized too strongly with the girl's longing for freedom and adventure very much like what your own teenage years allowed you to indulge. I am sure, of course, that Korra's happiness mattered very much to you, but I now understand that their methods not only made her unhappy but badly hindered her development as the Avatar. I would be indignant that the Order didn't see the damage they were doing if I hadn't been as equally blind myself until tonight.

Korra's other Masters and I always found it perplexing that a Waterbending Avatar would find Airbending so difficult as to be completely incapable of performing it. I remember you and Father telling me how easily Waterbending came to him, not to mention how easily Korra took to Firebending, which history has always indicated should have been the most challenging for her. Although Korra deeply desired to learn Airbending, she seemed to despair of ever getting her wish. Even I began to be frustrated by her lack of progress. What was blocking this girl from grasping the most basic fundamentals of Airbending? No matter how much she practiced, she simply couldn't move like an Airbender. She had no patience for meditation; unlike the meditation she learned for Firebending, she didn't find this to be helping her at all. When I told her a few days ago to focus on setting her mind and spirit free, she actually laughed in my face, saying, "You're telling me to embrace freedom, but you won't even let me listen to the radio… and forget about leaving this island." That had been our most recent feud – when I caught her listening to a pro-Bending match on the radio. You know how Father and I always found that trivial sport to be an insult to the tradition of Bending; I didn't want her attention distracted by such nonsense when she was struggling so hard.

That was the flaw in my strategy – increasing my efforts to overcome her difficulty before uncovering the reason for it. Things came to a climax tonight when I caught Korra after she snuck away to actually participate in a Pro-Bending match. I'm sorry to have to admit that I was just as enraged as she was herself when I confronted her. I've never encountered such flagrant disobedience and disrespect before! I was angry enough to leave her to continue to make a fool of herself (from the little I saw of the match before my opportunity to speak to her, it was obvious she had no idea what she was doing); yet, I couldn't help leaving slowly and constantly looking back. Is it wrong that part of me hoped that her failure tonight would finally teach her a lesson?

As it turned out, her success tonight taught us both a lesson. For the first time, I saw her move like an Airbender. It was so unexpected, I became riveted to the scene. Yesterday, she found it impossible to perform the spiral movements necessary to dodge our training gates, but now she smoothly spiraled through and dodged her opponents' attacks as if she'd been doing it all her life. She helped her team win not by using offensive force but by quickly evading and defending – exactly the way Airbenders fight. It thrilled my heart to see my pupil shine so.

I was less than halfway back to the island before it all became clear. Air is the element of freedom; how could we have expected a girl who had known so little freedom in her life to have any sympathy with the Air? It was impossible to expect Korra to connect with the free, unbound Air when she always felt so trapped, which I did nothing to ease after she came here. I can never tell her so, but her grasp for freedom was the first crucial step towards overcoming her struggles with Airbending. I suppose she will figure it out on her own, however, since I made no objection to her competing in the upcoming Pro-Bending tournament. I see now that a little freedom is necessary for her if she is to master Airbending and become a fully-realized Avatar.

I must get back to some repairs to the training ground now, but I wanted this letter ready to go out with the first morning messenger hawks. Pema and the girls and Meelo, of course, send their love and look forward to your next visit. Ikki, however, tells you not to hurry because she wants to be able to show you all the new moves she and Jinora will have taught Korra.

Please be sure to tell me what the rest of the Order thinks of these new developments, and thank you, Mother, for sending Korra to me. It was the best thing you could have done for her. Father would have understood that from the beginning.

All my love,

Tenzin


End file.
